Asia stocks rise ahead of China's inflation data

By KELVIN CHAN | February 7, 2013 | 10:30 PM EST

In this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 photo, job applicants, right, complete forms at a job fair sponsored by Swissport, in Newark N.J. The Labor Department reports Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, on the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time in the last week. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

"Chinese data for January should be interpreted positively, but markets react to the country's indicators in a jumpy way and a major deviation from consensus may well introduce volatility," said Dariusz Kowalczyk of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.2 percent to 11,216.41, slumping after a recent rally spurred by a weakening yen. Some analysts believe the yen may have bottomed out and that the rally has run its course. A weaker yen benefits Japan's export manufacturers because it makes their products cheaper in overseas markets.

Wall Street stocks fell Thursday as weaker earnings unnerved investors despite data suggesting that company layoffs are easing. Media conglomerate News Corp. cut its forecast for annual earnings. Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., lost $1.3 billion in its latest quarter as it revamped its network to take on larger competitors.

Benchmark oil for March delivery fell 4 cents to $95.79 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 79 cents to finish at $95.83 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3395 from $1.3401 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was unchanged at 93.52 yen.